


Wonderment

by toasty_coconut



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26084956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toasty_coconut/pseuds/toasty_coconut
Summary: Diana Cavendish loved Shiny Chariot's magic with all her heart. Somewhere across the sea, Atsuko Kagari felt the same.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58





	Wonderment

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Diakko Week 2020's theme of "childhood friends".

“Shiny Chariot…?”

“Uh-huh!” Diana’s eyes gleamed, her hands running over the binder’s laminated pages. “She’s incredible, right?”

It wasn’t often that other children were around the Cavendish Manor. As soon as Diana heard that the Taylor and Burton families would be visiting with their daughters, she knew that she had to show them her prized collection.

Dozens of Shiny Chariot cards were carefully organized within the plastic pages. She hadn’t been collecting them for long, but she was proud of the ones she had. One in particular stood out—a rare premium card she had received as a gift for her sixth birthday. It sparkled like the sun at the page’s center.

The two girls who sat on either side of her stared at the pages warily. One of them pursed her lips and shifted. “I guess her magic is kind of cool, but…”

Diana blinked. “But what?”

She hesitated, twiddling her thumbs. “Well, my mother always says that Shiny Chariot shouldn’t be doing spells like that.” She averted her gaze. “She thinks that it makes witches look bad.”

“Mine, too,” the other girl added quietly. “She says there’s no use for that kind of magic.”

“Really? I don’t think that at all,” Diana remarked. She momentarily recalled the videos she had seen of Chariot painting the night sky in shades of red and blue. “I think her magic is really beautiful.”

“I mean, her spells are pretty… But…” The girl rose to her feet, brushing the grass off of her dress. “I don’t want to make my mother angry if she sees me with this stuff.”

The other girl’s eyes lingered on Diana’s binder, but then she nodded, standing up beside her friend. “Me too…”

Diana frowned, slumping her shoulders as she grasped at the edge of her binder. The two girls exchanged guilty expressions. One of them shrugged. “Hey, why don’t we go play something else?” she offered. “I just got a new tea set! I brought it with me today!”

“That sounds like fun!” the other enthused, clapping her hands together. “Are you coming, too, Diana?”

Diana’s gaze lingered on the binder before giving the pair a small smile. She held it closer to her chest. “No. You go ahead,” she dismissed with a shake of her head. “Maybe I’ll come play later.”

The girls frowned and one of them nodded. “Okay,” she conceded, nudging her friend in the arm. “Let’s go, Lauren!”

With that, the two turned on their heels and made a jog to the front doors of the Cavendish Manor. Diana sat still, looking down at her binder. Shiny Chariot’s premium card continued to sparkle just as brightly as always, but Diana didn’t smile the way she usually did.

As the two girls made their way through the doors, Diana could have sworn she heard them laughing.

* * *

“And _this_ is my most valuable possession!” Akko proclaimed, holding out her ultra cool, incredibly awesome treasure for everyone to see. “The super rare Shiny Chariot Shiny Rod card!”

Silence hung throughout the first grade classroom. The stares from Akko’s peers were heavy and bored, but Akko was nothing short of brimming with pride.

The teacher sitting at her desk let out a small, nervous chuckle. “Akko…”

“Seriously? Again?” A boy in the front row droned. “This is, like, the third week in a row you’ve brought that thing!”

“So what?” Akko puffed her cheeks, stomping a foot on the ground. “It’s still just as cool as it was the first time, isn’t it?”

“More like just as boring as it was the first time,” the boy argued. “What’s so special about some dumb card anyways?”

Akko flushed with anger. He was definitely jealous. He was just mad because _he_ didn’t have the ultra cool, incredibly awesome, super rare Shiny Chariot Shiny Rod card. But before she could open her mouth to say exactly that, the teacher spoke up with, “Takeshi, that’s enough. This is Akko’s time for show and tell.”

“But she’s already shown us and told us _everything_ about it,” Takeshi argued, he threw his arms behind his neck, leaning back in his chair. “Shiny Chariot is stupid anyways.”

“She is not!” Akko shot back, holding the card close to her chest. Her face lit up, remembering the video she had seen online of Shiny Chariot creating a phoenix made of embers that flew over the audience. “She’s super amazing! And I’m gonna be a great witch just like her someday!”

Akko was grinning from ear to ear, but the entire class burst out into a fit of giggles. Akko flinched, her rage bubbling again. She clenched a fist at her side. “Stop laughing at me!”

The class ignored her, continuing to laugh as different classmates made the occasional snide remark. Akko felt like hot steam was building up behind her eyes as she gritted her teeth in anger.

Miss Nakamura rose from her seat. “Class! Settle down!” she snapped, her tone firm. The class’s reaction was almost immediate as a hush fell over the room. Miss Nakamura sighed, running a hand through her hair. She gave Akko a small smile. “Akko, maybe next week you could bring something different for show and tell?”

Akko pouted down at the card in her hands. “...Yes, Miss Nakamura.”

Akko slowly trekked back to her seat near the rear of the classroom. She slumped in her chair as the next student made his way in front of the blackboard. He began to show off some kind of action figure, many of the boys in the room made excited comments.

Akko looked at the card between her hands. She had been hoping that if she showed it off to the class one more time, and had another chance to talk about how amazing Shiny Chariot was, that maybe they’d get it this time. Maybe Shiny Chariot would make their hearts feel as light as hers did.

“Akko? A witch?” one girl a few desks over whispered to her friend. “Yeah, right.”

The two shared quiet giggles with each other. Akko’s frown deepened.

However, like always, they did nothing but laugh at her. She bit her lip, her fingers trembling as she continued to stare at the image of Shiny Chariot. Her eyes stung.

If they didn’t believe in her, she would just need to keep believing in herself.

* * *

Diana’s heart couldn’t stop racing. Her head was still spinning. She had never felt so light before—it was as though she were walking on clouds. The colors. The sounds. The atmosphere. She wanted to remember everything she could about that night.

She had always known Shiny Chariot was incredible, but seeing her for real had shown Diana just how amazing she really was. And it wasn’t just Shiny Chariot—it was _magic_. Magic that took all different shapes and colors. Magic that soared through the air like a bird. Magic that filled her heart to the brim with such wonder and awe.

Magic was incredible.

“Did you enjoy yourself, young miss?” Carter asked, taking Diana by the hand.

Diana beamed up at him, gripping his hand tightly. “Yes!” she enthused, walking with a bounce in her step. “Did you see the way she shot that big scary monster out of the sky? Wasn’t that amazing?”

“It was certainly a sight to behold, Lady Diana,” Carter agreed. “I’m positive your mother will love hearing all about it.”

“Do you think we can call her when we get back to the hotel?” Diana asked eagerly.

Carter let out a chuckle. “Of course, my Lady. I’m sure she fervently awaits it.”

Diana’s mind raced with all of the things she wanted to tell her mother—the way Shiny Chariot had created a dragon out of thin air, or how quickly she had soared through the sky on her broom, or even the way that she had washed over the audience with illusionary water.

There was so much she wanted to talk about. Whenever she mentioned Shiny Chariot around the manor, she would usually get sneers from Aunt Daryl and her cousins—but her mother always listened. She never judged Diana the way that everyone else seemed to. And now she knew for certain that everyone else was wrong.

Shiny Chariot was wonderful. Magic was wonderful. They just needed to see that, too. She would make sure of that someday.

A loud, high pitched voice drew Diana out of her thoughts. Turning, she saw a girl about her age in a Shiny Chariot hat nearby. She was jumping up and down and speaking at a rapid pace in a language Diana didn’t understand. Her crimson eyes were shining like the stars in the sky. A woman, likely her mother, stood beside her, holding her hand. She listened to the girl speak, often responding with more words Diana couldn’t make right or left of, but her tone patient and kind.

Diana couldn’t help but be reminded of the way she spoke to her own mother.

The girl took notice of Diana’s stare and blinked, facing her. The pair locked eyes and after a beat the girl beamed. Whatever she said, Diana wasn’t sure, but the excitement in her voice and the gleam in her eyes conveyed feelings that broke the barriers of language.

This girl had been just as moved by Chariot’s magic as Diana had.

The girl grinned and waved. A bright smile graced Diana’s lips, her chest swelling with joy. There really were others out there who felt that same light in their hearts as she did when they saw Chariot’s magic.

As she lifted her hand to wave back, Carter gently tugged her along. “My lady,” he said, getting her attention, “we should keep moving along, now.”

Diana raised her brows, looking from Carter to where the girl and her mother were, but they had already begun walking in the opposite direction. Diana stood still for a moment longer, watching as the girl happily blabbered away to her mother.

As the pair disappeared, the girl’s words continued to ring in Diana’s ears. Although she didn’t know what they meant, something about them resonated with her down to her very core. The smile she wore didn’t leave her face as she exited the park alongside Carter.

‘ _Mahou sugoi desho!’_

* * *

_End._


End file.
